(NEXSTAR) — During election season, political conversations surrounding the middle class are common. With this in mind, you may wonder if you belong to the middle class.
More than half of U.S. adults live in middle-income households, the Pew Research Center recently announced. analysis It was decided.
Pew defines a middle-income household (specifically a family of three) as one with an income between $56,600 and $169,800 in 2022 dollars. Using materials from the Ministry of Labor, inflation calculatorThis adjusts to approximately $60,882 and $182,646 in 2024 dollars.
However, the range depends on where you live and the number of people you live with.
pew calculator I can explain it.
For example, let's say you live alone near Cleveland, Ohio. An analysis conducted by SmartAsset earlier this year found that Cleveland had one of the lowest barriers to entering the middle class.
Based on Pew Research Center research latest calculatorYou need to earn just $30,090 to be considered middle class (technically, this data is based on nearby Akron). If you want to be in the upper class, you need a pre-tax income of $90,250. If there are four people in the household, the middle class range is $60,165 and $180,400.
Both of Akron's top middle class rankings will be in the middle class of San Francisco, California, one of the most expensive metros surveyed by Pew Research and SmartAssets. There, single people with incomes between $38,527 and $115,580 are considered middle class. To maintain middle-class status, a family of four would need to earn between $77,050 and $231,155 before taxes.
What is your rank? You can find out using Pew's calculator below.
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Overall, Pew found that San Jose had the lowest percentage of residents living in middle-class households, at 42%. Although the majority of San Jose residents were in this group, nearly 41% belonged to the upper class, the highest percentage of the 254 metro areas analyzed by Pew.
Olympia, Washington, had the highest percentage of middle-class residents at 66%. Approximately 20% of Olympia residents are considered lower class and 14% are upper class.
In Bismarck, North Dakota, about 16% of adults live in low-income households, the lowest percentage of any city surveyed. Laredo, Texas had the highest low-income population at 46%.
Another Pew survey study Recent research shows that in 2023, the proportion of Americans living in middle-class households will be 10% compared to 1971, and the proportion of Americans living in low-income or high-income households will increase by 3% and 8%, respectively. .
Personal financial site money nerd They surveyed 600 cities and identified areas where the middle class is shrinking. Overall, we found that 367 cities saw their middle class shrink in size between 2017 and 2022.
In Springdale, Arkansas, and Carmel, Indiana, the middle class shrank by double digit points over those five years. In these cities, Pew calculates, a single person would need just $29,648 and $30,622, respectively, to become middle class.
Alix Martichoux contributed to this report.
